Birding Diary Jan - June, 2000

Birding Diary (Top)

25 June: Ohkubo, Saitama 9:45-11:45
Birding in the rain is also fun. We could hear the voice of Ruddy Crake again, it made us happy, we couldn't see them though. Chinese Little Bittern were flying in pairs, from reeds to another reeds. We have been wanted to record their clear voices. Today, we couldn't hear them. Take another chance. And instead of that, we could see their faces clearly, perching on the reeds. It was difficult to take photos in the rain... The only one, the top page photo, is out of focus ; _ ; ....
There were cute fledglings, Tree Sparrow and White Wagtail. There was also a fox, maybe the same one we saw two weeks ago. I hope both of them, birds and fox, will survive. Other birds we saw were Skylark, Barn Swallow, Great Reed Warbler, Fan-tailed Warbler, Black-crowned Night Heron, Great Egret, Little Egret, Spot-billed Duck, Carrion Crow, that's all !

10 June: Ohkubo, Saitama 15:45-19:15
This is the first time to go to Ohkubo paddy field. Marmot is working in Ohkubo, so he can easily come here by bicyle. This area is famous for Chinese Little Bittern and Ruddy Crake. They are very shy, so we don't expect to see, it is enough to hear them.
Today, after work, we went there to hear and record them on foot. Happily, it was cloudy and we could walk around without umbrella. At 17:00, the farmers finished work and went home. It's recording time! The voice of Ruddy Crake carried well. It's nice, isn't it? On the other hand, a muffled voice of Chinese Little Bittern was hard to record, accompanied by Ruddy Crake! Mmm... Try to record and replace it, in the next time. Again, there were no other people, just two of us and frogs, birds and bats.

3-4 June: Karuizawa, Nagano 6/3 6:45-9:00,16:00-20:30, 6/4 3:45-5:00
The rainy season has set in. We expected to see Latham's Snipe again. When we arrived there in the morning, we saw four Latham's Snipes flying away. We were a little disappointed. But our another purpose was to record the voice of Ural Owl, whose voice we heard from a distance last week. We could record the song of Stonechat, just above our head ! In early June, we could hardly see birds, only listening. In the Bird Forest, we heard the voices of Narcisuss Flycatcher, Gray Thrush, Siberian Blue Robin, Blue-and-White Flycatcher, Common Cuckoo, Little Cuckoo, Short-tailed Bush Warbler, Japanese Grosbeak, Ashy Minivet, Black-faced Bunting, Japanese Yellow Bunting, Great Tit, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Brown-eared Bulbul. So we moved to South Karuizawa to hear the Owl. Gradually it became darker and darker, the voice of frogs louder and louder, and the Owl began to hoot. How nice! We were glad to hear it again. We stayed there for a while to hear it, sitting on the road. There were no other people, just two of us. And we were surprised to see the Latham's Snipes began to fly. What? Do they sit up so late at night? (Yes, they do.) Anyway, we were satisfied to hear both Ural Owl and Latham's Snipe.

27-28 May: Karuizawa, Nagano 5/27 7:45-10:00,15:00-17:00 5/28 7:45-9:00
We expected to see Latham's Snipe, and we could see their display flight: a spectacular aerial display in which the feathers of the tail produce an eerie whistling sound. Three Snipes were flying at the same time, and we wondered why they flew together and didn't drive the rivals away. Isn't it the territorial fight? We have many "?"s now. I need to read more books.
We could hear the voices (voices only (; . ;) couldn't see them) of Japanese Green Pigeon, Ural Owl. We want to see them and also record their songs someday. Other birds we saw were Great Reed Warbler, Gray-headed Bunting, Japanese Grosbeak, Skylark, Bull-headed Shrike, Azure-winged Magpie, Carrion Crow, House Martin, Stonechat,Tits and so on. Primulas were in full bloom in Karuizawa.

21 May: Zushi-city, Kanagawa 8:00-12:00
Yesterday, when we woke up at 5:00 a.m., it was rainy. So we put off our plan and today we went to Zushi-city to meet Black Paradise Flycatcher. According to a birding guide map, this area is famous for Black Paradise Flycatcher and Black-and-White Flycatcher. There were many Birdwatchers who wanted to see Paradise Flycatcher, and so did we. When we heard the voice of Paradise Flycatcher, we felt happy just like we are in the Paradise(???). We could record the voice, but couldn't take photos. I don't persist to do it. I don't want to disturb them. They are busy in building their sweet home. Black-and-White Flycathers are busy in carrying food for their chicks. Black-and-White Flycatcher clucked his tongue, so we left there quickly.
Other birds we saw(heard) were Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Japanese Green Woodpecker, Japanese White-eye, Narcissus Flycatcher, Crowned Willow Warbler, Bamboo Patridge, Gray Wagtail, and so on.
Black Paradise Flycatcher was very beautiful, both song and figure! I want to meet again...

13-14 May: Karuizawa Bird Forest, Nagano 5/13 7:00-11:00,17:45-18:45 5/14 5:30-10:15
After a week, we are back here in Karuizawa, again. Last week, we couldn't hear the song of Common Cuckoo, Oriental Cuckoo, Horsfield's Hawk-cuckoo and Little Cuckoo. A week later, we could hear them, excluding Little Cuckoo. They usually arrive later than other birds, for they "commit" their babies to other birds. They don't have to make sweet homes. It is said that their body temperature are too low to hatch eggs. I don't know which was first. Anyway, we enjoyed their songs with mixed feelings.
This time, something was unusual. We saw Siberian Blue Robin was singing at the top of the tree, where Blue-and-White Flycatcher was usually there. We could record the songs of Siberian Blue Robin and Blue-and-White Flycatcher singing very close, next tree. And at dusk, Siberian Blue Robin and White's Ground Thrush were singing together. The contrast is very interesting, cheerful Robin, and fainting(?) Thrush. We love both of them. Other birds we saw (heard) were Jay, Gray Starling, Japanese Grosbeak, Oriental Greenfinch, Japanese Yellow Bunting, Black-faced Bunting, Gray-headed Bunting, Tits, Flycatchers(Narcissus, Brown), Short-tailed Bush Warbler, Great Reed Warbler, Bush Warbler, Stonechat, Wren, Ashy Minivet, Brown Shrike and so on..
Next weekend, we will be in our den to rest. When we walked down the trail as usual, we heard the alarming voice of Wren just before us. We don't want to disturb them growing chicks.

29 Apr.- 6 May: "Golden-week holidays" in Nagano
The best season for "Bird Listening" has come! In Nagano we enjoyed a lot, with new findings and experiences. One of our most favorite birds is Gray Thrush, who sing happily and sometimes mimic other birds. Especially, we like the one, mimicking Coal Tit. Before he mimic Coal Tit, you can hear the song of Coal Tit.
Every morning we woke up before 4:00. Dawn and dusk are the birdwatching time. In the noon, we take a nap. It's May 10 today, still I woke up before 6:00 without an alarm clock. It is healthy, isn't it?
Throughout a week, we could record many bird songs, total 6 hours and more. We replaced (refined) some and added many to "Bird Songs". This weekend or maybe next weekend, we are going to go there again!

21-23 Apr.: Miyake-jima Island, Tokyo (4/21 10:15-18:30, 4/22 4:30-14:40, 4/23 Return to home)
We made a Bird Watching Tour plan again. Last year we went to Niigata Pref. by Shinkansen, this year it was for Miyake-jima Island by plane. Miyake-jima is well known as a bird island. Some indegenous birds are inhabiting only Izu Islands. We were eager to see Akakokko (Izu Island Thrush) for a long time. It looks like American Robin, I think. We are collecting bird songs, so we expected to record the call, but we couldn't. Things doesn't go the way we want it to. It is enough to see it. So cute. And! Instead of that, we happened to see Hoopoe(!!!!). Last week we saw an article on the newspaper that more than 150 people gathered at Kasai Seaside Park to see Hoopoe. It is really attractive bird ! We don't much appreciate of rare birds, excluding Hoopoe and a few birds. I didn't think I could see Hoopoe in my lifetime. It's not overstating to say so. We are really reallllly lucky. In the future, I will add some pictures of Hoopoe to my photo collection.
We also see many atrractive birds there. They are Japanese Wood-Pigeon, Iijima's Leaf-Warbler, Pleske's Grasshopper-Warbler,(Miyake) Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Japanese Robin, (Mosuke) Wren, (Sichitou) Japanese White-eye, Blue Rockthrush and so on. We saw and heard so many birds. Miyake-jima Island is really a special place for birds. And I hope Japanese Murrelet will never become extinct.

16 Apr.: Ukishima, Kasumiga-ura, Ibaragi A.M.8:30-11:30
Ukishima is well known for Japanese Reed Bunting. Some are seen in Akigase Park, but we couldn't meet with them there, so we decided to come to Ukishima just to see them. It took about 90 minutes and costed about 5,000 yen to get there. If you travel in Japan, you will be surprised how expensive the toll road is. Anyway, we were satisfied to see Japanese Reed Bunting here and there. The one we saw first was still in a winter plumage, so we thought it was a Siberian Meadow Bunting. Soon after that, we looked field guide closely and 'decided' it was a Japanese Reed Bunting. Always we enjoy this procedure. If we attend a bird-watching expedition with a guide, we can see many birds without thinking, pleasant annoying. We are always thankful for the information other bird watchers give us, though. Thanks to them, today we could see Osprey was eating a fish. (And thanks to them, we could see many cute birds in Akigase!) It was a chilly and windy day and a little earlier to see summer birds and reeds to bud. We could see and record the voice of Fan-tailed Warbler. Now we can add some bird songs to this HP!

8 Apr.: Akigase-Park, Saitama A.M.10:00-14:00
The cherry trees are in full blossom now! Today we expect to see Sakura in Akigase. Also 'people were in full' in the park. We saw some birders, but not many. We moved to place where there were few people (and few cherry trees). A couple of cherry trees were enough for us, so we enjoyed them in quiet. After enjoyed cherry blossoms, we moved to Saiko-lake to see Long-tailed Rose Finch again. Instead of that, we could see Falcated Teal (1 male and 3 females) for the first time! It was a windy day, so I had to hold the Telescope firsmly against the wind. Falcated Teals were also drifting on the waves. And more, I could see Siskin. Mmm. It was a good day. By the end of this month, many migrating bird will come and it will be the best season to enjoy bird songs. How many bird songs can we record in this coming season? We expect 'many'!

1 Apr.: Akigase-Park, Saitama A.M.8:15-11:15
This is the seventh time to come to Akigase. We were back again here to see Gray Bunting, and we 'achieved our aim'. After seeing Gray Bunting, we went for Wild Bild Garden to see Long-tailed Rose Finch. We met her again here, probably the same female we saw last week. She was not so afraid of humans, and was eating something only 3 meters away from us. We caught our breath and stared her for more than 30 minutes behind the leaves..., and we felt guilty for her, because it looked like we were peeping at her.
We couldn't stay long, because we had many things to do in the afternoon. We left Akigase before noon. Today's birding was only three hours, but it made us happy and refreshed us. Akigase is a really attractive park. We are sure we will be back here again.

25 Mar.: Akigase-Park, Saitama A.M.9:30-14:30
A few day ago, Saito-san was kindly to send me a map which indicates where we can see Gray Bunting, so the first of all, we went direct to the point. Not long before, they appeared one after another. I heard that there were 6 Gray Buntings and one of the males was beautiful and worth seeing. We saw three males, some are young. We liked all of them, they are cute. We stayed there more than an hour and moved to see Japanese Waxwing. The one who made us happy last week was dead. The other one was extremely cautious and I couldn't see him, though Marmot(my husband) could see him three times. I easily gave up to see him. I was already satisfied to see Gray Bunting, so we began to walk around the Wild Birds Garden, where we had not gone before. It was a little slippery so we proceeded slowly. Then we heard a characteristic twitter, it is Long-tailed Rose Finch(male & female). Nice to meet you again, this is the second time to see them in this winter. The chatter of Bamboo Patridge lured us into the Garden, and we found a village of homeless people inside. That's why we saw many bicycles and dogs around here. We made a U-turn and unexpectedly we met a little brown bird, Japanese Accentor. We haven't seen him in ages, it was a couple of years ago high in the mountains. After that, we went to find Gray-headed Bunting, in vain. It was enough. We could see Gray Bunting, Long-tailed Rose Finch and Japanese Accentor (and Japanese Waxwing) in a day. We were fully satisfied with Today's birding and left for home. It took 120 minutes to go home from Akigase, only about 20 miles away. 'I wish I were a bird.'

19 Mar.: Tokyo Port Bird Sanctuary, Tokyo A.M.9:30-13:00
Yesterday, it took 130 minutes to get to Akigase(via beltway 8), and 40 minutes to Tokyo Port Bird Sanctuary(via beltway 7). The traffic jam in Tokyo, especially a beltway 8 is a mess! The desire to see birds beats difficulties to get through the traffic jam. It was the "Gull's Day". We could distinguish Herring Gull, Mew Gull and Black-headed Gull perfectly, ...for the first time(~_~;). Some Black-headed Gull's heads were turning to black, as their name. We couldn't see Smews here, either. We enjoyed to see winter birds.

18 Mar.: Akigase-Park, Saitama A.M.10:30-14:00
We met Japanese Waxwing again. I think it was definitely another one. It was...so fat!(Please refer to the front page picture.) Obesity is the same problem for both of us, human beings and birds?! The one we met last week disappeared from sight quickly. On the contrary, the other one we saw today was just like posing on the stage, in front of the many photographers and bird watchers. It reminds me of the squirrel who was posing in front of the Paradise Inn, Mount Rainier National Park. Anyway, we could see Japanese Waxwing again. There are various kinds of birds in this park, which we can't see in downtown, and it makes this park very attractive. There were no Smews and few Pintails, though we could see many Great Crested Grebes and Little Grebes in breeding plumage. Many people were picnicing in the fields and couldn't see White's Ground Thrush. Other birds we saw were Goshawk(young) who was mobbed by three Jungle Crows, Little Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Water Pipit and White Wagtail who were feeding in the small tideland. Skylark and Great Tit were singing happily.

11 Mar.: Akigase-Park, Saitama A.M.10:30-13:30
We were back Akigase again, hoping to meet White's Ground Thrush. We couldn't but instead of that, we happened to see Japanese Waxwing. Their charming points are red tips on tail feathers and punk like head(??). They are almost seen in flocks so we looked around but couldn't find its mates. We haven't seen them in ages, so it made us happy. It's March, spring is just around the corner. Thick gloves were needless, though we wore down jackets. We were almost satisfied because we could see Waxwing and moved to Saiko Lake. No Pintails, and instead of that there were Smew, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, all in breeding plumage. Other birds we saw were Eurasian Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Rufous Turtle Dove, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Skylark, Brown-eared Bulbul, Bull-headed Shrike, Dusky Thrush, Pale Thrush, Great Tit, Black-faced Bunting, Oriental Greenfinch, Siskin, Tree Sparrow, Gray Starling, Jungle Crow.

26 Feb.: Akigase-Park, Saitama A.M.8:15-11:00
We have been wanted to see White's Ground Thrush for a long time. They have very characteristic calls, a little weird. I heard it in the midnight at Karuizawa, with the sound of the rain. It moved quickly, and was a little frightening, but also charming. We only heard their calls and had no chance to see them, so we went through the traffic jam to meet them. This park is worth visiting, if it takes 90 minutes to get there. It was a "Thrush Day"! They are all my favorite birds, Pale Thrush, Dusky Thrush, Brown Thrush, White's Ground Thrush, we could see them. :) Do you know how White's Ground Thrush looks like? Click here! They are believed as the monster called "Nue" in Japanese ancient legend. The monster's appearance was... the body was racoon dog, head was monkey, limbs were tiger and tail was snake. What an appearance!

5 Feb.: Akigase-Park, Saitama A.M.8:30-15:30
It was a warm and balmy day like spring. Spring has come ?? We could record the love song of Skylark. And FINALLY, we could see both of them, and. Our pedometer showed that we walked more than 17,000 on that day. Marmot gets so tired that he is still sleeping. I can hear he is breathing peacefully now.(Today is Feb.6) Every holiday, he takes a nap more than two hours. Today, it is longer than usual. We recorded the song of Skylark by Saiko-lake, under the high-voltage wires. We were sure that living near the high-voltage wire must be harmful to the health, because we also recorded the noise of wires. Invisible killer radio waves...? We should reconsider our life styles to reduce many "harmful"s. Anyway, we were so happy to meet the birds we have been ardently in love this winter. The male Smews are called "Panda-duck" from their appearances. There were 2 males and 15(!) females. Males were protected by females, and flew away. On the other hand, Long-tailed Rose Finch(male) was alone among reeds. We want to see them in breeding plumage, in beautiful red clothes. Someday we will go to meet them in Hokkaido. Other birds we saw were same as those of 22 January.

22 Jan.: Akigase-Park, Saitama A.M.9:30-15:50
There are two main fields for bird watching in this park. One is Saiko-lake and the other is Picnic Forest. Our intension was to see Smew(in black and white) and Long-tailed Rose Finch, which we couldn't see in Tokyo Port Bird Sanctuary and Karuizawa. So we thought to see both of them in one place. Don't you think it is a good idea? It was the coldest day in this winter. So cold! My nose was running..(^_^;) It was surprising that some people were picnicking in the wind. The weather forecast said that Sunday would be rainy, so they might 'enforced' their plans, so did we.
Saiko-lake We could see many Smews, only females. There were more than 10 females, but no male. Why? Also we could see Great Crested Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Water Pipit (for the first time!) Common Buzzard and other ducks as usual.
Picnic Forest It was a little warmer in the forest. Many bird watchers were walking around with heavy telescopes. I am one of them. The birds we saw in the forest were Pale Thrush, Bull-headed Shrike (female), Azure-winged Magpie, Japanese White-eye, Black-faced Bunting, etc. Hawfinch and Oriental Greenfinch were noticeable in their numbers.
And again, our plan failed. We couln't see both of them.

10 Jan: Tokyo Port Bird Sanctuary, Tokyo A.M.10:00-14:00
As we went Karuizawa to see Rose Finch, we were here to see Smew here. When we saw 3 Smews in this park last time, two were females and one was an eclipse(male imitates female) so we haven't seen him in black and white. And today, we could see no Smews, even females. We were a little dissappointed. Instead of that we could see a Bull-headed Shrike was impaling the prey on a thorn. Wow ((. .))
It took about 40 minutes from our 'den' to this park by car. It is more comfortable than by trains and monorail.

8 & 9 Jan, 2000: Karuizawa, Nagano A.M.9:30-12:30
It was a warm day. We couldn't believe that it was mid-winter. I took off a fleece pullover under my down jacket. There were many birders in the forest. Some of them wanted to see/take pictures of Long-tailed Rose Finch, and so did we. We drove two hours to see him and as is often the case with us...we couldn't. In this season, many birds come to the bird feeder. We could see flocks ofJapanese Grosbeak, Hawfinch, Brambling, Oriental Greenfinch, Dusky Thrush, Willow Tit, Varied Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Rustic Bunting, Siberian Meadow Bunting, Siberian Bluechat, Daurian Redstart. Also we could see and hear Brown Dipper was singing. It is the time to find partners for them.